Ch 12 Key to Review Quest. on Social Psych

Key to Ch 12 Social Psych Review Questions

12.1 What is Social Psychology?

As a field, social psychology focuses on ________ in predicting human behavior.

  1. personality traits
  2. genetic predispositions
  3. biological forces
  4. situational factors

D

Making internal attributions for your successes and making external attributions for your failures is an example of ________.

  1. actor-observer bias
  2. fundamental attribution error
  3. self-serving bias
  4. just-world hypothesis

C

Collectivistic cultures are to ________ as individualistic cultures are to ________.

  1. dispositional; situational
  2. situational; dispositional
  3. autonomy; group harmony
  4. just-world hypothesis; self-serving bias

B

According to the actor-observer bias, we have more information about ________.

  1. situational influences on behavior
  2. influences on our own behavior
  3. influences on others’ behavior
  4. dispositional influences on behavior

B

Critical Thinking Questions

Compare and contrast situational influences and dispositional influences and give an example of each. Explain how situational influences and dispositional influences might explain inappropriate behavior.

A situationism view is that our behaviors are determined by the situation—for example, a person who is late for work claims that heavy traffic caused the delay. A dispositional view is that our behaviors are determined by personality traits—for example, a driver in a road rage incident claims the driver who cut her off is an aggressive person. Thus, a situational view tends to provide an excuse for inappropriate behavior, and a dispositional view tends to lay blame for inappropriate behavior.

Provide an example of how people from individualistic and collectivistic cultures would differ in explaining why they won an important sporting event.

People from individualistic cultures would tend to attribute athletic success to individual hard work and ability. People from collectivistic cultures would tend attribute athletic success to the team working together and the support and encouragement of the coach.

12.2 Self Presentation

A(n) ________ is a set of group expectations for appropriate thoughts and behaviors of its members.

  1. social role
  2. social norm
  3. script
  4. attribution

B

On his first day of soccer practice, Jose suits up in a t-shirt, shorts, and cleats and runs out to the field to join his teammates. Jose’s behavior is reflective of ________.

  1. a script
  2. social influence
  3. good athletic behavior
  4. normative behavior

A

When it comes to buying clothes, teenagers often follow social norms; this is likely motivated by ________.

  1. following parents’ rules
  2. saving money
  3. fitting in
  4. looking good

C

In the Stanford prison experiment, even the lead researcher succumbed to his role as a prison supervisor. This is an example of the power of ________ influencing behavior.

  1. scripts
  2. social norms
  3. conformity
  4. social roles

D

Critical Thinking Questions

Why didn’t the “good” guards in the Stanford prison experiment object to other guards’ abusive behavior? Were the student prisoners simply weak people? Why didn’t they object to being abused?

The good guards were fulfilling their social roles and they did not object to other guards’ abusive behavior because of the power of the situation. In addition, the prison supervisor’s behavior sanctioned the guards’ negative treatment of prisoners. The prisoners were not weak people; they were recruited because they were healthy, mentally stable adults. The power of their social role influenced them to engage in subservient prisoner behavior. The script for prisoners is to accept abusive behavior from authority figures, especially for punishment, when they do not follow the rules.

Describe how social roles, social norms, and scripts were evident in the Stanford prison experiment. How can this experiment be applied to everyday life? Are there any more recent examples where people started fulfilling a role and became abusive?

Social roles were in play as each participant acted out behaviors appropriate to his role as prisoner, guard, or supervisor. Scripts determined the specific behaviors the guards and prisoners displayed, such as humiliation and passivity. The social norms of a prison environment sanctions abuse of prisoners since they have lost many of their human rights and became the property of the government. This experiment can be applied to other situations in which social norms, roles, and scripts dictate our behavior, such as in mob behavior. A more recent example of similar behavior was the abuse of prisoners by American soldiers who were working as prison guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

12.3 Attitudes & Persuasion

Attitudes describe our ________ of people, objects, and ideas.

  1. treatment
  2. evaluations
  3. cognitions
  4. knowledge

B

Cognitive dissonance causes discomfort because it disrupts our sense of ________.

  1. dependency
  2. unpredictability
  3. consistency
  4. power

C

In order for the central route to persuasion to be effective, the audience must be ________ and ________.

  1. analytical; motivated
  2. attentive; happy
  3. intelligent; unemotional
  4. gullible; distracted

A

Examples of cues used in peripheral route persuasion include all of the following except ________.

  1. celebrity endorsement
  2. positive emotions
  3. attractive models
  4. factual information

D

Critical Thinking Questions

Give an example (one not used in class or your text) of cognitive dissonance and how an individual might resolve this.

One example is choosing which college to attend—the public school close to home or the Ivy League school out of state. Since both schools are desirable, the student is likely to experience cognitive dissonance in making this decision. In order to justify choosing the public school close to home, the student could change her cognition about Ivy League school, asserting that it is too expensive and the quality of education at the public school is just as good. She could change her attitude toward the Ivy League school and determine that the students there are too stuffy and wouldn’t make good classmates.

Imagine that you work for an advertising agency, and you’ve been tasked with developing an advertising campaign to increase sales of Bliss Soda. How would you develop an advertisement for this product that uses a central route of persuasion? How would you develop an ad using a peripheral route of persuasion?

Although potential answers will vary, advertisements using the central route of persuasion might involve a doctor listing logical reasons for drinking this product. For example, the doctor might cite research suggesting that the soda is better than alternatives because of its reduced calorie content, lack of adverse health consequences, etc. An advertisement using a peripheral route of persuasion might show very attractive people consuming the product while spending time on a beautiful, sunny beach.

12.4 Conformity, Compliance & Obedience

In the Asch experiment, participants conformed due to ________ social influence.

  1. informational
  2. normative
  3. inspirational
  4. persuasive

B

Under what conditions will informational social influence be more likely?

  1. when individuals want to fit in
  2. when the answer is unclear
  3. when the group has expertise
  4. both b and c

D

Social loafing occurs when ________.

  1. individual performance cannot be evaluated
  2. the task is easy
  3. both a and b
  4. none of the above

C

If group members modify their opinions to align with a perceived group consensus, then ________ has occurred.

  1. group cohesion
  2. social facilitation
  3. groupthink
  4. social loafing

C

Critical Thinking Questions

Describe how seeking outside opinions can prevent groupthink.

Outsiders can serve as a quality control by offering diverse views and views that may differ from the leader’s opinion. The outsider can also remove the illusion of invincibility by having the group’s action held up to outside scrutiny. An outsider may offer additional information and uncover information that group members withheld.

Compare and contrast social loafing and social facilitation.

In social loafing individual performance cannot be evaluated; however, in social facilitation individual performance can be evaluated. Social loafing and social facilitation both occur for easy or well-known tasks and when individuals are relaxed.

12.5 Prejudice & Discrimination

Prejudice is to ________ as discrimination is to ________.

  1. feelings; behavior
  2. thoughts; feelings
  3. feelings; thoughts
  4. behavior; feelings

A

Which of the following is not a type of prejudice?

  1. homophobia
  2. racism
  3. sexism
  4. individualism

D

________ occurs when the out-group is blamed for the in-group’s frustration.

  1. stereotyping
  2. in-group bias
  3. scapegoating
  4. ageism

C

When we seek out information that supports our stereotypes we are engaged in ________.

  1. scapegoating
  2. confirmation bias
  3. self-fulfilling prophecy
  4. in-group bias

B

Critical Thinking Questions

Some people seem more willing to openly display prejudice regarding sexual orientation than prejudice regarding race and gender. Speculate on why this might be.

In the United States, many people believe that sexual orientation is a choice, and there is some debate in the research literature as to the extent sexual orientation is biological or influenced by social factors. Because race and gender are not chosen, many Americans believe it is unfair to negatively judge women or racial minority groups for a characteristic that is determined by genetics. In addition, many people in the United States practice religions that believe homosexuality is wrong.

When people blame a scapegoat, how do you think they choose evidence to support the blame?

One way in which they might do this is to selectively attend to information that would bolster their argument. Furthermore, they may actively seek out information to confirm their assertions.

12.6 Aggression

Typically, bullying from boys is to ________ as bullying from girls is to ________.

  1. emotional harm; physical harm
  2. physical harm; emotional harm
  3. psychological harm; physical harm
  4. social exclusion; verbal taunting

B

Which of the following adolescents is least likely to be targeted for bullying?

  1. a child with a physical disability
  2. a transgender adolescent
  3. an emotionally sensitive boy
  4. the captain of the football team

D

The bystander effect likely occurs due to ________.

  1. desensitization to violence
  2. people not noticing the emergency
  3. diffusion of responsibility
  4. emotional insensitivity

C

Critical Thinking Questions

Compare and contrast hostile and instrumental aggression.

Hostile aggression is intentional with the purpose to inflict pain. Hostile aggression is often motivated by anger. In contrast, instrumental aggression is not motivated by anger or the intention to cause pain. Instrumental aggression serves as a means to reach a goal. In a sense it is a more practical or functional form of aggression, whereas hostile aggression is more emotion-driven and less functional and rational.

What evidence discussed in the previous section suggests that cyberbullying is difficult to detect and prevent?

Cyberbullying is difficult to prevent because there are so many forms of media that adolescents use and are exposed to. The Internet is virtually everywhere: computers, phones, tablets, TVs, gaming systems, and so on. Parents likely do not monitor all of their children’s use of the Internet, thus their children could be exposed to cyberbullying without their knowledge. Cyberbullying is difficult to detect because it can be done anonymously. Cyberbullies can use pseudonyms and can attack victims in untraceable ways, such as hacking into Facebook accounts or making Twitter posts on their behalf.